(they move) on tracks of never ending light
by abbyli
Summary: A series of Merle AU's, starting with him surviving the Governor and living at the prison with his brother.


**entitled: **they move on tracks of never ending light

**summary**: A series of Merle AU's, starting with surviving the Governor's attack and living at the prison with his brother.

**pairings/characters: **merle-centric,merle/carol, some beth/daryl

**rating: **t

**disclaimer: **I don't own the Walking Dead or it's characters.

**notes: **This is for the beautiful TanglingShadows. She introduced me to the pairing of Merle and Carol and now while some of you may not agree, I think this definitely would have worked. Carol never looked at Merle like he was trash. She showed faith in him, asking if he was with them and calling him a late bloomer. I like to think that her words played a part in him doing the right thing in 3x15.

So here, Merle has survived the Governor's attack, despite the loss of a few fingers. This is the role he could have played in the events of season 4 and 5 had he survived.

.

.

Three fingers.

Three fucking fingers.

How in the holy hell was it possible that he only had three fingers left out of ten?

"Oh, stop whinin', Merle. Yer lucky yer alive."

The lady doth speaketh the truth.

After being shot in the stomach by the Governor and left to bleed out and turn, he was lucky.

He had thought it was the end. He was sure that that was it.

And then there are calloused hands on his face, on his chest. Pushing life back into him. Keeping him there. Keeping him _alive. _

The next thing he remembered was waking up back at the prison, his chest and hand bandaged. He expects to be alone but there are two people there. The old man and the woman.

Carol.

She doesn't realize he's awake as she works, brushing a cool cloth over his forehead. The cloth comes away bloody and she rinses it in the pail of warm water beside her elbow.

"Carol," the old man says suddenly and Carol's eyes focus.

"Hello sunshine," she says with a smirk. "Welcome back." He tries to talk and his voice comes out in a grunt. She presses a gentle hand to his cheek, her smirk fading into a real smile. "Take 'er easy. Ya've had quite a day."

He mumbles something before he begins to slip back off into the blissful world of unconsciousness.

.

The next several hours are spent floating in and out. And the most unbearable pain imaginable. He had thought that having his fingers chewed off was one thing - that was nothing. This was agony.

The old man - _Hershel _- gives him whatever painkillers he can spare but the rest he has to ride out himself.

He begins to run a high fever somewhere on the third day. The day that the Governor is supposed to show up.

"_We can't just leave 'im here!" _Aww, little brother does care.

"_And we can't move 'im. He won't survive." _

"_Then what are we 'pposed to do?!" _

And then he's being moved. Not far, but it's not the most pleasant of trips. Down to solitary where he has the girl and the old man for company.

The girl's touch is gentle as she soothes his fever. Hershel changes his bandages, his own touch just as gentle as his daughter's. Medical expertise does run in the family.

He hears the gunshots and he can't stop thinking about his brother. His brother gets himself killed and he will kick his ass.

He does think about that woman. Carol.

He hopes that she makes it.

.

She does. They all make it.

The Governor escapes by the skin of his teeth, sacrificing all of his men in place of himself. The sheriff allows the survivors from Woodbury to come and live there and when he hears that, he's ready to laugh but it hurts too much.

He's moved back down into the infirmary that Hershel - that's right, _Hershel_ - had finally finished setting up. He's down in the thick of things in the cell block and he watches as those things begin to change.

The prison is now abuzz with activity. He barely sees his brother but he knows that he is always near. And right then, that's enough.

He's up and walking within a matter of weeks. Hershel is persistent and he does what he is told. For once. He's anxious to get back into the thick of things because he wants to find the Governor. He wants to rip the bastard apart himself. He wants to watch the Governor turn and then put a bullet in his skull. He wants to do everything to him that the son of a bitch did to him.

He works with the blonde girl - Beth, he thinks - on getting back into the full swing of strength. Carol wanders in sometimes, shooting alongside Beth. Damn, that woman is a hell of a shot.

Sometimes, he's watching her instead of his target.

The girl begins using a crossbow that had been brought in by one of the Woodbury residents. She gets good. Damn good.

Hmm...

.

He goes on a run with his brother.

Only his brother.

"So ya and Carol..."

God, is he in high school?

"Just friends," his brother finishes for him.

He can't ignore the bubble of relief in his belly.

.

The sheriff soon allows him to keep his gun.

He continues to go on runs with the others and offers an official apology to the Chinese - er, _Korean _kid. Well, it actually comes in the form of saving his lady from a walker that almost takes her arm off.

"We're even now," he says to the older Greene girl after he pummels the walker into the ground.

And that's that.

.

He watches that baby grow and thinks of when Daryl was that age.

Well, he was watching Carol first and the tot got in the way but hell - she's still kind of cute.

.

He overhears a screaming fight between the blonde girl and his brother. A screaming fight that ends with the girl throwing her crossbow with all of her might across the wide open space of the cell block and stomping after it. He hides his laughter as his brother comes charging the other way, muttering about dumb girls driving him crazy.

Oh, his brother has fallen so hard and hasn't even realized it yet.

.

A flu rocks the cell block and he catches it.

Of fuckin' course.

"Sit tight," his brother says. "Ya'll be fine."

"Find those damn drugs, brother," he coughs, his hand pressed against the glass separating them. Daryl's left hand comes up to meet his and he doesn't pull his own away.

"I will."

.

He kills five newly turned walkers in the quarantined cell block. The Sasha girl nearly buys it from one and he slices it to ribbons with his hand-knife.

"Th-thanks," the younger woman pants before she passes out in his arms.

"A card would've been better," he moans as he gathers the woman up and carries her back to her cell.

He later yanks Hershel out of the pit that he falls into with the Henry walker after Maggie places a perfect bullseye into it's head.

"Ya did good," Hershel says to him later after Glenn is stabilized. "Go get some rest before ya drop." His light eyes dart to his daughter. "Maggie, could ya -?"

Maggie nods and he is surprisingly being helped to his feet by the older Greene girl and guided back down the walkway to his cell. She dumps him none too gently onto the cot but he can see the gratitude in her eyes.

_Now we're even. _

.

Why is he not surprised when it's Carol that gives him his drugs?

"Angel of mercy," he mumbles as Carol gently presses the needle into his vein. "Ouch!"

"I ain't no angel," she says before pulling the blankets up to his chin. "Once yer stronger, take a shower. Ya stink."

"Essence of life, sweet thing. Ow!"

"Call me that again, this needle is goin' someplace else."

.

The Governor comes back and he stands by his brother. Where else would he be?

He watches, horrified, as the Governor hacks off the head of his friend - yes, Hershel is his friend - right in front of those who love him. He hears Maggie's scream of agony and Beth's sobs before the bullets start to fly.

Daryl is yelling in his ear as they both hit the dirt. He's got his own gun out and he's firing at the Governor but the bullets aren't even coming close. Too much and it's pissing him off.

He wants the asshole dead _yesterday. _

So he's the one that gets the shit beaten out of him, not the sheriff.

He reaches the gulley where the two men are fighting and he's ignoring his brother's shouts of anger and true fear as he nearly steps into the tussle and pulls Rick out with his three remaining fingers.

"Get the fuck outta here!" he growls at the sheriff before he turns to face the Governor.

He's pleased to see that he looks shitfaced terrified.

"Surprised t'see me, old friend?" he sneers.

"Frankly, yes," the Governor says before swinging the first blow.

Within minutes, there's more blood, more yelling, more swearing, and much more damage done. He's losing the fight, he knows he is.

He hopes that Daryl can get to safety. That he finds his girl and they both get outta there.

Carol...

He hopes his family will be okay.

Just when he's sure he's gonna see his old papa a lot sooner than he intended, there's a slice in the air and he watches Michonne's blade find a new home in the Governor's chest.

The body slumps on top of him and he kicks it off, gazing up at the woman in shock and surprise.

Michonne nods her head before she turns on her heel and disappears from sight.

He stands over the Governor's writhing body.

"How's it feel?" he says softly. His eyes dart to the approaching walkers and he smiles. "Enjoy, fellas," he says before turning and staggering back into the prison yards and the relieved sounds of his name being shouted.

Not by his brother.

.

He flees the prison with Carol and the three little girls. They doubled back, looking for any sign of Rick and Carl before going deeper into the woods.

"Where do we go from here?" he asks Carol three miles in.

"We hide and we heal," Carol says softly, cradling a snoring Judith against her chest.

.

He makes sure to keep his knife off of his hand before he goes near the girls. For some reason, Lizzie takes a liking to him. It doesn't take him long to understand why.

"That girl's sick."

Carol swallows back tears before she nods. "I know."

.

Lizzie is attacked by a walker two weeks in.

Carol makes it quick.

He holds Mika while she cries.

And that's it.

.

"My brother was abused."

Carol's tearfilled eyes find his in the dim light.

"I din't know," he whispers. "'til last year. If I had known, I never woulda left him behind."

The real words are behind those. _It's okay. I understand. I'm here._

.

"I get why my brother calls her Asskicker."

Carol laughs for the first time in weeks, smiling as Mika gently walks Judith on her shoes, dipping her toes in the crystal clear water of the creek.

"She definitely wouldn't have made it this far if she weren't an asskicker," she says with a smile. Her eyes find his in the darkness and she takes his three fingered hand for just a moment. "Thank ya."

.

"Those who arrive, survive. What a buncha bullshit."

"What do ya suggest?"

He stares at her in surprise for a moment. No one ever asked his opinion about nothing and well -

"I suggest we wait it out," he says. "Knowin' yer bunch, a few of 'em are gonna believe it. Maybe set up camp nearby and head 'em off."

"Daryl?" Carol offers.

He nods. "And Beth. They won't believe it. Maybe -" his voice catches in his throat and Carol nods in understanding.

"They're ok, Merle."

He nods too, hoping like hell she is right.

.

They watch as Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Carl are dragged into the boxcar.

"I've got an idea," he whispers.

.

Dead of night falls and he encounters another being that he had not seen then.

"Why the hell are ya here and not there?" he stupidly asks, a little too loudly in the darkness.

Beth blinks her owlish eyes his way. "I have my ways."

"Well, then ya stay here with the kids while Carol 'n I -"

"Uh-uh," the girl - nah, she was a _woman _now - cuts him off. He glances down and sees her crossbow clutched in her hands. "I'm comin' with ya."

.

He kills a walker and coats himself with blood, walking among them and right into the now burning compound of Terminus.

Carol had blown the fuckin' gas tank up and Beth was already inside, finding the weapons that had been taken from their group. When he sees a flash of muddied blonde hair and an armful of guns and another crossbow, he knows she's in the clear.

With a curious sense of déjà vu, he slips inside and takes out two Terminus members before they ever realize he's there, leaving them on the floor to turn. He nearly gets himself bit because one turns so freaking fast and he's being an idiot and not paying attention. He drives his knife deep into the skull before he moves.

There's another explosion and the whole damn place shakes.

"Goddamn, woman," he whispers, trying to ignore the flush of pride in his chest as he runs.

.

When he's outside, he hears the gunshots coming from outside the gates. When an arrow skims right over the top of his head, he knows the girls are okay and he allows himself to breathe for a just a moment.

"_Merle!"  
><em>

Damn, he's never been so happy to hear his brother's voice before.

More arrows are being fired and they find homes in the heads of three walkers, one that was just about to take a chunk of out his arm. His brother recognizes the bolt as it whizzes by, turning his blue eyes on him for a brief moment.

"_Beth?" _he mouths before they have to run again.

"Hell yeah, lil' brother!" he yells out, not caring who else heard.

.

It's a blur on how they get out of there alive. But really...

Fleeing to the back of the compound, he knows that's where the girls are waiting. As Rick digs up the bag of weapons, nobody but he and Daryl notices as Carol steps out from behind a tree, looking worse for wear but hell, he finds her gorgeous.

He can admit that to himself now.

He grins with a new and different kind of happiness as he watches his little brother swoop on Carol and practically pick her right up off of her feet in a rib cracking hug.

"Come on," she says once Daryl puts her down, her eyes on Rick as they move.

They walk up over the hill where the little cabin was and out steps Beth with Judith in her arms and Mika attached to her hip.

Rick practically yanks Judith out of her arms, the baby blubbering in confusion as she is flattened against the chest of her father. Mika is pulled away and into the arms of Sasha and once she is there and safe, the little girl breaks down in heaving sobs.

Daryl has turned into a statue. If this moment wasn't so important, he would have been laughing but he wasn't.

Giving him a gentle shove with his three fingered hand, his brother moves towards the dirty blonde, his feet not quite knowing which way they are supposed to go. Once he reaches her though, it kind of trumps what he had just shared with Carol.

It's Beth that makes the first move, reaching in and burrowing herself into Daryl's chest. Her head is pressed against his beating heart and that's when his arms reach up and latch around her so tightly that it doesn't look like he'll be letting go for quite a while.

"I'm sorry," his brother murmurs into her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"It's all right," Beth whispers. "We're gonna be good."

And maybe Beth is right. Maybe they are.

.

She crawls into his sleeping bag that night.

He eyes her as she folds into his side. "Carol, whatcha doin'?"

"Shut up," she says, pulling the blankets up over them. "It's cold."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever ya say, woman."

Her head resting on his shoulder, her soft breathing already lulling him to sleep, he gazes around at their sleeping companions.

Carl and Judith are curled around each other, Rick and Michonne laying on each side of them. Protective family unit.

Mika is sleeping with Sasha, while Tyreese is nearby. Bob is resting against a tree, his gun resting in his hands but his open eyes dart over to the young woman that Mika sleeps soundly against.

Glenn and Maggie are on the other side of Rick and Michonne and the kids, farthest away from the fire. More privacy. He sees the new people, the loud mouthed tough guy with orange hair and his lil' senorita lay near each other while the weirdo with the mullet sits up nearby, talking softly with a girl with ponytails.

Beth and Daryl lay in each other's arms. Beth's hair is spun out like a golden halo against Daryl's arm. Merle eyes his brother for a moment and sees that he doesn't sleep. He doubts he will sleep for a while for fear that the woman in his arms may disappear again.

He finds himself watching his brother for a moment. He's sure that Daryl will feel his eyes on him and maybe he does and just doesn't care.

He has never seen his little brother so happy. He wonders what happened between him and the little Greene in the months that they had been together but it was obviously something good. Something right.

Daryl's eyes meet his in the firelight and he cracks the corner of his lip up. Daryl glances at Carol who is now snoring in his ear, raising a brow before nodding.

So much said in that look.

_Treat 'er right. She deserves the world. _

Oh, he would. He would give her the world if he could.

But now he hopes that their own personal world is okay.

.

He becomes an uncle a year later.

He sits beside his sister in law, watching as she nurses his nephew with ease. Yeah, he's actually not looking at her tits. More interested in the dark haired angel that lays in her arms.

"He looks like his pa," he smirks. "Poor kid."

"Oh, go to hell, Merle," Beth laughs. "Get that knife off yer hand."

Surprised, he obeys. He can hear Carol's soft laughter and chooses to ignore his wife as he reaches out his arms for his nephew. Beth's hands are expertise as she passes her son to him.

"Name him after yer pops?" he asks.

Beth nods. "Richard Hershel Merle Dixon."

He stares.

"Girl, ya've got to be shittin' me."

Beth rolls her eyes, running a gentle finger over Richie's forehead. "Not at all."

No, he's not crying. Nope.

.

"Ya shouldn't name yer kid after me."

He glances to his right, watching as Daryl lights up another cigarette that he douses almost immediately, throwing it in the dirt.

"Wasn't my suggestion," he says. "Beth's."

.

"She's too good for him."

Carol chuckles. "And I'm too good for ya."

He laughs too before pulling her in. "Yer damn right. How'd I get so lucky?"

.

Another twist of fate and he would have died that day in the shack.

The Governor's bullet would have gone through his heart and that would have been it. He would have been become one of the dead and his brother would have had to put him down. That would've been it.

Now here he is, alive and well, despite having only three fucking fingers. He's got a brother and a sister in law that are happier than ever, and a scrappy nephew that toddles through the grass with his momma's help. He listens to his brother's joy as he cheers his son on, waiting with arms wide open as Richie Dixon staggers into them.

Mika has finally started Carol 'Mom' and even asked him if she could call him 'Dad'. When those words came out of that girl's mouth, he was sure he was either going to pass out or cry.

A shaky 'sure' later and that's it.

He's screwed beyond reasons.

He's got a wife. A wife that he loves more than anything in the world. A wife that he would give his own life for in a heartbeat. A daughter that he adores. He's damn lucky.

He's happy.

They're all happy.

And that's enough.

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so there's gonna be a few more parts. Not sure how many but they will all be Merle AU's. The guy had a lot of potential. It was sad to see him go but at least he got a good ending, saving his brother and saving the people that his brother cared about. <strong>

**By the way, Beth's alive. **


End file.
